Fourteen Saints, Fourteen Feelings
by Steamrollers Solve All
Summary: Not just about Saga and Mu now.  Each chapter focuses on a different pair of Gold Saints, a look into their lives and connections with each other.  Now looking at Shion and Dohko, the only two Gold Saints that got their thousand day war.
1. Respect and Something More

A/N: Wow… who'da thunk it? Me, a heterosexual male writing a one-shot about Saga and Mu's relationship… Blame Niteskye for it and my own guilt of not writing my own IkkiXSeiya story when we made a bit and the loser would have to go out in a blaze of glory, suicide-bombing the 4Kids headquarters. Consider this my apology for doing neither, Niteskye.

Shock and horror were the only feelings Mu felt when he saw Saga standing there, a black Surplice rendition of the Gemini Cloth proudly on the formerly deceased. Deathmask and Aphrodite he had expected… but not Camus, Shura, and most certainly Saga.

Yet this was a battle, and Mu struggled to keep up with the three, losing nothing but two strands of hair while shoving all thoughts out of his mind. But then he was on the ground, hearing Saga speak.

"If we keep using such paltry attacks, Mu will never let us pass in time. I suggest we show what little mercy we have left and be done with it all."

That only meant one thing… and Mu knew he was in no shape to survive the brutal and unrestrained potency of Saga's abilities. But he also saw something there; something that really couldn't exist, but remained in his view.

Mu saw the three crying… crying for their actions.

Saga…

* * *

A few hours later, the former Gemini Saint permitted himself a small but proud smile as he emerged with Camus and Shura from the Gemini Temple. On two separate occasions this night, he had seen men exceed Saga's expectations by leaps and bounds. 

The first was obvious. Kanon, Saga's dirty little secret, had shown himself reborn due to the grace of Athena and proven his worth as a Gold Saint. There was no knowledge in all of Saga's revived body that filled him with more joy… except one.

Mu.

How old had he been when Saga had cruelly killed his master? Six? Seven? He found it ironic that the Aries Saint had been stripped of his mentor at an age where the Graude Foundation's charges had been introduced to Sanctuary and received masters themselves.

Masquerading as the Pope, Saga had grown to be frustrated at Mu's refusal to return to Sanctuary with his Gold Cloth. Dohko had been old, and the Sagittarius Cloth had no owner those thirteen years, but there had always been Mu, scraping out a living in Jamir, even having a student of his own, and posing a constant threat. True, Mu himself was a pacifist, but simply repairing the armor of the Bronze Saints at opportune moments had been interference enough.

Dohko had seen through Saga's disguise easily … a man that had known Shion for over two centuries was not going to fall for "I'm sorry, Dohko, but I don't feel comfortable around you so I won't remove the headpiece." But for Mu to see the truth and stand against it, that took courage. Courage that in his few glimpses of sanity, Saga wished he could have mimicked.

Hard to believe the Saint that had been content to dispense advice and repairs had finally taken up arms… and with violent results. But Mu was doing what Saints were _supposed_ to do, fight against Hades and defend Athena. Everything else, _especially_ killing the Pope over a decision that didn't go your way and making Shura kill his best friend, was not to be thought about, much less acted upon.

More courage Saga wished he could have learned from a boy eight years his junior.

* * *

Those tears were still on Mu's mind as he killed Myu at long last, the telekinetic Specter finally getting what he deserved.

Could Saga have some ulterior motive for his acts? His appearance had not changed to imply his maddened state of mind, far from it. What's more, Shion acted like the ringleader of the fallen Gold Saints… unlikely if Saga had not reformed, which made no sense due to Saga's encouragement of Seiya during the Asgard conflict.

_Unless…_ Mu thought as he ran up the next flight of stairs, _Unless Shion and the others really _are_ acting of their choice…_

The thought chilled Mu to the bone. Could Saga really be capable of that? When lucid enough, he had taken his own life rather than lay a finger of his goddess. And what of Camus, Shura, and Shion? Were they capable of such betrayal?

No… there had to be a misunderstanding, a mistake, some grand plan? They hadn't killed anyone, had they? Aldebaran had been killed by a true Specter… sent to make sure that Shion and the others really _were _loyal to Hades, which meant Hades himself didn't trust them. And if that was the case, there really was hope that what Mu thought was correct.

* * *

Shaka was dead… Saga knew he had killed him. True, Camus and Shura had been there too, necessary to the Athena Exclamation, but who still could see? Who was the one in charge of their little group doing a mad scramble up the steps of Sanctuary not unsimilar to Seiya and his friend's charge not long ago… although for a different reason?

Saga knew he was, and _that goddamn butterfly wouldn't even let him show his shame and sorrow for it all!_

And then the doors opened and Saga saw Shiryu, Mu, and Aiolia standing there…. and Saga's sight fell on Mu.

"Keep this in memory of Shaka," Saga barked as he handed Shaka's prayer beads to Mu. He tried to look strong, uncaring, but he wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't what he was showing. Yet of the three there, Mu was looking like the most likely one that would listen.

If only that goddamn butterfly wasn't there!

* * *

Mu felt no anger at Saga for sending Milo plummeting to the floor with a Galaxian Explosion… not even any for preparing to again use the forbidden Athena Exclamation.

He was rather sure that Saga was feeling no hatred for him as he, Aiolia, and Milo prepared the attack as well.

Mu thought it odd that the confrontation of the two forces seemed rather… evenly fitted. Camus had been Milo's best friend, confiding in him the reasons for his actions against Hyoga, and in turn Milo tried his best to keep Hyoga from getting killed too.

Shura had killed Aiolia's brother, but it had been hard for the Capricorn Saint as well, especially after his death. Yet both were so much the same, brave men that had been forced in one way or another to kill good men by…

Saga. There was Saga, staring opposite of Mu. What did it feel like to be a traitor to Sanctuary? Well, Mu himself could think of the way he had just walked off with the Aries Cloth, but he felt he had been doing the right thing. Saga most likely had thought the same thing those first days after all the horror and death. Who was left to lead Sanctuary? Nobody was old enough save for Dohko, who had other duties to attend to. At least for thirteen years, Sanctuary had not been steered wrong by him… if that was any consolation.

Mu wished he had the courage to stand up and live after committing horrible crimes like Saga did. Maybe it would make him feel better for breaking this taboo.

* * *

Saga smirked as he felt himself fade away. In the end… what had he accomplished? Very little, that was certain. Athena was still without her Cloth. Two more Gold Saints were dead. Camus was over there, being beaten by some idiot Specter.

And yet there were the Bronze Saints… four youths that never settled for standing by but at the same time never abandoned their duties to Athena for personal gain… Mu and Saga's two greatest traits, exhibited together.

Saga smirked at recalling the Aries Saint again… getting carried by him to Athena and then being told by his goddess to kill her was not exactly part of the plan, and Saga felt ashamed that he had once again dragged Mu down to such depths. Seeing his master return, allied with the enemy that Shion had battled so passionately against 243 years ago…

Saga knew he was not to blame, but he knew that if he was, Mu could channel his anger at the world into one person a little easier.

But he had no other regrets… he had done what he could. And sacrificing all honor for his goddess was still going out with a big bang… or two, in his case.

* * *

He had lost… they had all lost…

Mu couldn't believe the power that this Specter had… it seemed leaps and bounds above Myu's… and even along with Milo and Aiolia, far cries from featherweights too, this Wyvern Specter just casually beat them around left and right.

And here he was, falling into the pit into the Underworld… was this how he was going to die? Mu thought of Saga as he fell. He had been right in the end. Saga had often been called a demigod by the people of Greece for his magnificence. Why not? He was a good man with solid judgement… that just so happened to have an ambitious twin brother and a split psyche. But in the end, he had just been a man that had fallen and rose back up. And then he had seemingly fallen down to his knees, but only to jump back up for one last grab at redemption.

No regrets… Mu understood what it meant to be Saga… sacrificing honor was something Mu himself had done by performing the Athena Exclamation as well.

At least he had gone out with a bang.

* * *

_Okay_… Mu and Saga thought separately, all_ of us are going out with a bang_.

They stood together with the others, even Aiolos present in more than just spirit. Milo and Camus stood prepared to assault the Wailing Wall with cold, pokey fury. Aiolia, Shura, and Aiolos could at long last set everything behind them and fade away together and at peace. Deathmask and Aphrodite seemed rather… relaxed. No more faking, no more having to convince themselves might made right, just being Gold Saints and defenders of the planet. Dohko seemed ready to finally leave this world and join Shion wherever they might go. Shaka seemed ready to die and let the new Buddha be born. Aldebaran was ready for one last act for his goddess and make up for the fact he only managed to kill one Specter.

Saga and Mu just looked at each other and nodded before hugging once, accepting that whatever happened afterwards, nothing that happened before that point meant anything to either of them. Here and now, this was where they finally met.

"Ready?" Aiolos shouted as the Gold Saints all took their positions.

"READY!" The other eleven answered.

"Once more then, into the shimmering eternity!" Aiolos exclaimed proudly as they gathered their power together into one single point of brotherhood, camaraderie, and love.

The arrow struck the wall, and they faded away. In their last fleeting seconds of existence, Mu turned to Saga and smiled.

"No regrets," he said proudly.

"None at all," Saga answered back.

A/N: Well, this is not how I had thought this would turn out, but I'm proud of this nevertheless. Anyways, read it, enjoy it, review, do whatever you want to it. I too have no regrets about it.


	2. Friendship and Loyalty

A/N: Amazing how you just feel like writing something sometimes. Anyways, this is an expansion of "Two Saints, Two Feelings"… and I'll be covering seven pairs of Gold Saints. No, none of the others are going to be yaoi pairings, but they'll still be good. Some of the chapters will have obvious ones, like Milo and Camus, but others… well, you'll see.

_Two houses down_, Aiolos thought as he sprinted through the Aquarius temple. Things were looking decent, at least at face value. Saga would not come after him personally… a fight between them would result in a clash of Cosmos so strong that _anyone_ would notice right away that Pope "Shion's" Cosmo didn't feel quite right. If it weren't for the newborn infant in his hands, Aiolos would gladly go back and risk his life just to expose the traitor.

Aiolos knew his own temple would hold no enemies. Aphrodite, as he called himself, was still training, as was Camus. That accounted for the first two temples Aiolos had ran through. Milo was probably with them… if not, Aiolos would try to keep it quick. Shaka, as usual, was meditating in India. Aiolos's own brother, the favorite candidate for the Leo Cloth, was not yet worthy to don the Gold Cloth, hence, _that_ temple would be empty.

Deathmask, well, Deathmask was Deathmask. The butcher of Sanctuary, yet at the same time, vaguely philosophical to anyone that actually bothered to listen to him. His Hell Wave technique, at least at the moment, could only affect one person… and he'd obviously go after the threat, not the infant Athena. Aiolos knew if he flared his Cosmos enough, Aldebaran or Mu might get there in time.

That just left _one_ problem to Aiolos… and he dreaded it.

Shura.

* * *

The Capricorn Saint sat in his temple, waiting what he knew who would appear. He really couldn't believe it, that his best friend had raised his hand against the Pope.

Literally.

The footsteps and the approaching figure let him know it was time. He stood up, the figure stopped.

"Shura."

"Aiolos."

The two faced each other for a moment, neither one making any kind of offensive action. Shura's eyes, however, drifted down to the child in Aiolos's hands, and his mind began to ponder. "Is that Athe-"

"If I don't answer you, then no matter what, you'll never run the risk of a slip of the tongue. It's nothing personal," Aiolos countered. Shura nodded.

"Excellent point. Well then, what will you do?"

"What else? You're right here in front of me. You let me go, and you'll be called a traitor too. Excalibur is legendary, but it's not unstoppable. Some day someone will be able to overcome it, even if I can't."

"Something happened up there, it wouldn't kill you to tell me." Shura said, pointing up to the Pope's palace.

"But it might bring about your death. You're my friend, my _best_ friend. The less you know, the better."

"You're no traitor."

"And that's why I won't do anything to make you seem like one either," Aiolos said. His voice stayed strong, but the tears in his eyes let Shura know how much this pained him. "I mean, for Heaven's sake… you're _ten_ and I'm not that much older. We go out in the world, we'd be spotted instantly. And what does that mean for us? Death or worse."

"Things won't be much easier for one person," Shura answered as he leaned back against a wall, letting Aiolos walk with him as they moved through their temple.

"Yeah. I know." They were side by side, holding off the inevitable if only for a few moments.

"You were right though… about Excalibur."

"What do you mean?"

"Someday somebody's going to surpass me. They'll have to. You won't say anything, but it's obvious something bad is going to happen here. And somebody is going to fight their way up the temples… and that someone, not Aldebaran with his strength, Saga with his absurdly vast Cosmo, Deathmask with his psychotic nature, Shaka with all his debilitating philosophies, or Milo and his contradictory nature of "Nice guy, but I'll kill you" are going to stop them. Maybe it'll be a group. I don't know. But that person will have more fights on their hands, and they'll need Excalibur."

"You sound like you're going to die testing them."

"Atonement. I'm damned no matter what I do, since going with you is out of the question and I'll no doubt have to take the low road and sit here and follow Sanctuary."

"That's going to take courage…" Aiolos smirked. "But you're right. No need for us to worry about fixing this on our own. They'll take care of it."

"Who?"

"That someone or someones you talked about just now. You think we have time to run down to my temple without anyone seeing us?"

"Sure… I could make something up to cover for you. What's the plan."

"Write a last will and testament."

The words horrified Shura, and he immediately grabbed Aiolos, stopping from shaking him at the last second when he remembered the baby in his hands. "What are you talking about! Get out there! Tell someone about what's going on here!"

"I will," Aiolos said as he looked Shura in the eyes. "But as hard as it would be for two kids to make it out there, it'd be just as hard, if not _harder_ for one all alone. I realized that just now. I'll find somebody decent, appropriate… hand the child off to them for caretaking. But if I go too, they'll find me eventually. The more time flows, the more Saints there will be. And that would just make my life harder. I'm out of options. You're going to have to kill me."

As much as Aiolos's previous statement had shocked Shura… this one took the cake.

"You're kidding. You have to be."

"At least if you do it, I can consider it an act of mercy."

"Aiolos, I don't care if you really would be a traitor! I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"IF YOU DON'T DO IT, SOMEONE ELSE WILL EVENTUALLY ANYWAYS! AT LEAST WITH YOU…" Aiolos shouted back… wishing Shura would just understand. Spelling it out to him would hurt more than any lethal laceration by Excalibur. "At least with you… I can consider it an act of mercy."

Shura, Gold Saint of Capricorn, didn't know what to say. Eventually, however, he started walking again.

"Where are you going?" Aiolos asked as the Spaniard stepped out of his temple.

"Your last will. If I'm going to kill you, you might as well write it first."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, seriously. I'm going to have to make it look real."

* * *

"You're not going."

"Shura, listen to me! If I don't go with Saga and the others, then-"

"Then Sanctuary will truly think we're traitors!" Shura roared, the Capricorn Saint trying to talk his friend out of joining Shion and the others in the 'attack' on Sanctuary. "You're a hero now! You've saved Seiya's life on three occasions! What will the other Gold Saints think when they see the rest of us? Deathmask and Aphrodite will be no surprise… a shame too… and Saga, Camus, and I have made enough mistakes that nobody would think the wiser if we decided to regress. But if they see _you_, Aiolos…" he put his hands on his friend's shoulders.

There were two things that made life after death bearable… the first was Shura's joy at Shiryu's victories, one of them due specifically to Excalibur. The other was seeing his friend.

"If they see you, then they'll know something is wrong. Never in a million years would you _ever_ fight against Sanctuary. I'm not saying this as a Gold Saint already with a tarnished name, I'm saying this as your friend… don't do this."

Aiolos looked at him and then turned away. "Okay. Just…promise me you'll make it look real, okay?"

He turned around in time to see Shura salute him before the Gold Saint ran off to meet the others.


	3. Secrecy but with True Understanding

A/N: Third installment of seven of this angsty bit of drama… god, now I sound like J.K. Rowling… not like that's a bad thing. And Deathmask could easily swap notes with Voldem- (slaps self) No, LSN! NO! NO HARRY POTTER CROSSOVERS! Anyways, thanks to everyone who took a look at this earlier.

His grave had no mourners… although it very easily could have had at least one. Instead, a solitary figure in gold learned back, wondering if a sudden downpour would be considered pathetic fallacy…

Cancer Deathmask snorted at the thought, the assassin of Sanctuary enjoying the quiet of the graves. In most cases, Pope "Shion", although Deathmask knew the truth behind the name, would send a Silver Saint or two to dispatch with any troublemakers. That was what they were meant for. But in case of Sanctuary's infamous and often-loathed Cancer Saint, there was one man that was sent to do the dirty tasks when even Silver Saints failed.

Maybe that was why he was stoically waiting here rather than talking with Saga up stairs and discussing necessary affairs with the rightful Pope. Then again, he always did consider himself soft… inflicting pain to his victims to let them know they were still alive, to give them focus whereas Aphrodite's roses caused you to just fade away. Occasionally, Deathmask wondered what the "mask" part of his nickname alluded to.

The Cancer Saint chuckled to himself… he was a killer. Nothing more. If anyone else saw otherwise, then-

"Come on, come out already." Sensing his quarry had caused Deathmask to get out of his angsty mood… and also focus on the present. The boy that walked out of the temple towards the graves was the one Deathmask had suspected, counted on. Then again, he was only three years younger than him.

"Aiolia."

"Deathmask."

There was obvious tension between the two… one the brother of a traitor, the other the infamously bloody and sadistic villain of Sanctuary. Aiolia himself was not yet the Leo Saint, but the position was very much assured considering his strength.

"What do you want?" Aiolia eventually said. Deathmask shrugged.

"You've been visiting your brother's grave a lot, haven't you?" Deathmask said, pointing at Aiolia. He knew it could very easily be the preparation for being sent to the gates of Hades, but nothing came of it. Aiolia didn't really expect it, either.

"And if I do?" Aiolia said, walking by him with a few flowers.

"First of all…" Deathmask said, "Are those Aphrodite's? He's been wondering where they went… he really gets upset and it's really just not nice and-" Deathmask corrected himself… that bishonen asshole had a way of screwing up people. He heard that the Lacerta Saint used to be a stone-cold badass…

"Second of all?"

"What?"

"I said 'second of all'. If you say 'first of all', then there's usually a point that follows it, or are you just that dumb?"

"Oh… yeah…" Deathmask said. "Second of all… I don't give a damn, but if you're going to do it regularly, then you need to actually need to be more covert about it."

"Like _you_ actually give a damn about that?" Aiolia scoffed as he walked past him. He was surprised Pope Shion had allowed Aiolos to receive a proper grave worthy of a Gold Saint.

"Well, it's not like I _hate_ the guy or anything… seemed a decent enough guy," Deathmask said. He turned in time to see Aiolia staring at him, as if that was the most shocking thing Aiolia ever heard. "What? Stop looking at me like that!"

"Sorry… I guess…" Aiolia said as he walked away.

* * *

With Mu still MIA, Aldebaran snoring softly in his temple while cuddling up to a large plush Jigglypuff, and Saga still on whatever weird mission Pope Shion had given him, Aiolia knew only one Gold Saint would be there to congratulate him on finally acquiring a Gold Cloth. 

Well… _congratulate_ might not be the appropriate word, but it was close enough.

"You finally made Leo Saint?"

"What… you think I stole this?"

"I dunno…" a lesser Saint would have been tempted to take a cheap shot at Aiolia's relative and make a line along the lines of "guilty by association", but Deathmask didn't think it was necessary. "How hard was the fight?"

"Easy enough… going to take a look around my temple and decide what to bring up."

"Eh… an easy trick is to just teleport stuff from the entrance of a temple to the exit, lug it up to the next one, and repeat the process."

"Of course, telekinesis would make all that unnecessary…" Aiolia countered, Deathmask scowling at him for a moment.

One pair of battle-cries later, the two Gold Saints charged, wishing to test the idea of a fight between them either lasting a split-second or a thousand days… the force of the impact as their absurdly dense skulls smashing together knocking many of Deathmask's ceramic replica faces off onto the ground.

Both of them lay there, in a daze, staring up at the ceiling.

"Of course, you can't give so much shit to the Pope anymore. Gotta set an example and everything."

"'Course I can… you just can't cut me as much slack."

A moment of silence existed between them as the cold shower of Reality poured down on them. Aiolia promptly spoke up again afterwards. "You're still not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"Not a word. I have my reasons."

Aiolia sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot…" He sat up, Deathmask shrugging before looking around, confused. "Your headpiece is over there."

Deathmask quickly saw where Aiolia was pointing and picked it up. "Oh… thanks… heh. And besides…" he shrugged, "Expected you to ask anyways."

"Whatever…" Aiolia said, walking by him before noticing the misplaced masks. "Oh, sorry about that… I… know how much they mean to you…"

"What… those? I'll just fill out the mail-in order thing again."

Aiolia nodded. "For the sadistic assassin of Sanctuary, you have an odd habit of torturing yourself this way."

"I've made my choice in life, and I can handle the stress," Deathmask said. "Better me than some emotionally fragile newbie."

Aiolia nodded and started up to his temple. "Sure. The movie is at nine… don't miss it."

* * *

Aiolia checked the burning clock again… the fact that innocent blood had been spilled by his hands less than six hours ago still frightened him. Seiya and the others were still fighting up there… battling for their lives while he was still shaken by the death of a good man. 

He had seen Shaina's face… he wondered how the woman could ever forgive him… He recalled she had often thought highly of him… one of the two Grecian Gold Saints that currently resided in Sanctuary. Seeing her look at him like that, the shock in her voice…

As he began walking down to the Cancer Temple, he suspected the Cancer Saint would have the foresight to leave a certain object behind for him. Hell, they were literally next door neighbors… if anyone would have realized he had been affected by the Pope's Genromaoken, then Deathmask would.

The temple, once Aiolia reached it, was bare… the masks seemingly destroyed. "You found your peace… Deathmask…" Aiolia sighed. The man that had to bear the brunt of being Sanctuary's villain… to do the dirty work so nobody else would have to. The first man that gave a damn about him after Aiolos's death except for Shura. The first man that congratulated him on becoming a Gold Saint. The man that, unlike Aphrodite, never justified killing by saying "Oh, well… they didn't feel any pain, so it's okay."

The man that had to die taking the dirty truth of the Pope's replacement to the grave just due to friendship. And he didn't even have a body left to bury.

"The strength you showed…" Aiolia said as he used his Cosmos to locate Deathmasks's last little gift to his friend, "I'll honor you by not shirking away from my sins."

He took the mask of Cassios's face, walked back to his temple, and placed it on his wall.

* * *

The tentacles were just too tight… if Aiolia had to credit the Specter… he fought fair. One on one… he was going to die at least to a real man. 

Laimi's finish blow was coming in… he wondered if Deathmask's victims suffered fates like this… against an enemy that seemed so malevolent, so cruel…

By some chance, Aiolia managed to squirm away from an untimely death… but the sound of a pillar shattering behind him caused his blood to boil.

That was the one that… 

Aiolia didn't bother checking… considering the rubble, there wouldn't be anything left. The bindings didn't matter any more… he understood now…

_You wanted to die so many times_… Aiolia thought, the anger and the strength welling up inside of him as he broke free. _You respected strength… power… and the fact that people will fight so much harder against a malevolent reaper than a loving angel of death was your only hope…_

Laimi was coming at him. It didn't matter. That goddamn son of a bitch Specter was as good as dead.

"Lightning Plasma."

A/N: Added the Laimi part at the end since it adds poetic justice to this all. As much as I like Laimi and think he's a nice guy for not letting everyone gang up on Aiolia, the bugger just had to take one for the literary team.


	4. Complementary Rivals

A/N: Well, it's been awhile. But does it matter? NO! What does matter is I'm right here, right now, grunting out chapter four of this, my first introspective fan fic! And for once, I'm going with a predictable relationship of Shion and Dohko… because there is just _so_ much there. References what little I know about Lost Canvas and Next Dimension, as well as the Asgard arc.

All life begins with the sun, whose light provides strength and energy for plants. Those plants then provided strength and energy to other animals on the planet, including humans. The sun rose in the sky every day, bringing life again and again to the Earth, yet to two young men, standing shoulder to shoulder, watching the sun once again rose.

The cloudless, bright sky mocked them. Mocked them because they were alive, when men and women more than ten times their superior were dead.

"We… we did bad, didn't we?"

"I dunno, Dohko. I really don't." It was hard to believe less than a day ago so many people they had known, laughed with, trained alongside, and had promised to see the first day after the Holy War with had died. Some from suicidal stands against impossible odds, others dying if only to help the greater good. "Come on, let's see if there's anything worth salvaging at Sanctuary."

Dohko nodded. "Sure."

"Well… that's the last one of them still here," Shion sighed, shoving the last of the Gold Cloths away. "At the very worst, in a generation or two we should at least have a Gold Saint or two in the ranks… It would _really_ suck if we got in another war…"

"Still bothered we didn't just say 'to hell with the rules' and kill Arone?" Dohko asked. Shion nodded. "Let it go. You were right to go against it at first."

"What?"

"I… I've been doing some thinking," The Libra Saint began, "Why is it that Hades selects the purest figure to possess? Why is it that the Three Judges are the Specters representing Valor, Nobility, and Ferocity? Why does Hades let Elysium exist and protect it so fiercely?"

"I don't know. I doubt even if Athena-" Shion paused at the name, remembering that young Italian girl. What were the last thoughts that went through her mind? Did she die, wondering if at her death the world would end? "If Athena ever knew? But… but yeah. It seemed odd."

"Maybe we'll never find out…" Dohko sighed, standing up. "Anyways… let's go to work…"

* * *

"YOUR LIFE IS OVER, LIBRA SAINT!" shouted the man before him, the downpour of Rozan falls nearly inaudible against the massive horde of plant roots lashing at the stalwart Dohko. The red-haired man in front of him had abandoned his God Robe earlier in the battle, in an attempt to prove he was Dohko's superior, yet the fight had long since been decided. 

"I have faced Death himself," Dohko sighed, his mind calm as the roots suddenly froze inches away from it. "Alberich, you are an embarrassment to the title of God Warrior." He raised his hand up, and blasted past Alberich instantly, the man staggering forward. "Rozan… Ryu Hi Sho."

Alberich collapsed on the ground, horrified by the power of the strike.

"I held it back enough that you won't die. Get off of my damn training grounds." He added a kick to the man's side for emphasis, wondering if-

"You know…" came a familiar voice as Shion appeared in front of him, the man still wearing the robes of the Pope, "He's _really_ not in a condition to walk out of here…"

Looking back at the twitching warrior of Asgard, Dohko sighed and threw up his hands. "Fine then. Would you do the honors?"

The former Aries Gold Saint nodded before Alberich suddenly vanished. "Okay. Sent him back."

Dohko looked back, and then at his grinning friend. "Shion," Dohko said with as stiff an upper lip as he could manage, "Did you forget his clothes on purpose?"

The blonde-haired man raised an eyebrow. "And if I did?"

Laughter echoed in the region as they sat down at the edge of the cliff together, relaxing after what seemed like ages. The two finally got through the schoolgirl-esque giggles after a few hours, the ground around them soaked with tears.

"You know…you've really grown up since the wa –no… _then_…" Shion sighed. "_Hell_, you didn't even think of that teleport trick. Whatever happened to that enthusiastic Dohko that would charge off into the thick of things?"

"Well, I gotta more or less stay put right here, remember?" Dohko said, raising his arms. "When the situations of your life change, you gotta change."

Shion looked at him for a moment before looking around. "You've been getting those from a day calendar… haven't you?"

"You got me there…" The Libra Saint sighed. "But what about you?"

"Sanctuary rebuilds, like always…" Shion responded, "With Athena gone, it's our duty to protect it until her return. Essentially the same job, but it feels-"

"Empty," Dohko responded.

"Oh well, life goes on. A true testament of the human spirit, no matter how flawed," Shion said as he stood up. "And for the record…" Shion smirked, "I could have _so_ beaten Alberich in half the time it took you."

"Like hell!" Dohko roared, turning around.

"You wanna settle this?"

"There's NO way our strengths are still evenly matched after you've been farting around at Sanctuary all this time!"

"You're a crazy old hermit, Dohko! Have at you!"

* * *

"So… any idea if they're still fighting?" Dohko asked as he and Shion sat back in the pitch-black environment. Thanks to a perfectly-timed Starlight Extinction, the two survivors of the last Holy War were hidden away, able to explain the situation to each other. 

"We can't move yet," Shion sighed, shaking his head. "There's still some Specters left unaccounted for…"

"You're worried, aren't you?"

"Are you kidding?" Shion said, looking up at his friend. "Even with all the Saints that have died… I still consider this situation much better off than the last one."

"You mean when Hades would just resurrect his Specters again? Yeah…" Dohko agreed.

"They'll be fine against us. Hell, that Unicorn Saint scared off three high-ranking Terrestrial Stars… We just gotta wait. Once we get the chance, I'll head up and get Athena's Cloth, but you should track down Myu's last butterfly and finish it off."

"Sounds good," Dohko answered. "… But there's been something on my mind."

"Like what?"

"You held back on that Stardust Revolution."

"I held back because your Hyaku Ryu Ha was clearly inferior to what it has been!"

"You're a crazy old man, Shion! I was holding back to not wreck that pretty-boy body of yours!"

"A likely story! Your body might not have aged much, but it sure as hell still did get 243 years older! I'm betting you're just _claiming_ to be 18 and are really 19!"

"You wanna finally settle this?"

"Every single time we've fought…" Shion smirked, "Every blow has been perfectly matched. Not this time. Sure as _hell_ not this time!"

"ROZAN HYAKU RYU HA!"

"STARDUST REVOLUTION!"

* * *

_So… this is how it ends…_ Shion thought as he watched the sun rise. He didn't have much time left. _The loser gets to receive the peace of death, the winner must struggle on again into the breach._ "Dohko… goodbye…" He closed his eyes, expecting to finally die any second now. 

"Say it my face, will you?" Dohko's voice rang out, and Shion turned to see him there. "Last chance."

"This is getting old…" Shion sighed, but Dohko shook his head.

"No, this time with our fists. One punch."

Shion blinked at him before shrugging. "If you insist…"

The exchange was over in a blink of an eye, both of them turning back to each other. "You know, if I actually bothered to count…" Dohko began, "I think the amount of time we've spent fighting finally hit Day 1000."

"The end of a war, you could say…" Shion smirked. "Farewell." The great former Aries Saint slowly faded away, Dohko looking proudly before staggering forward a step and coughing up some blood.

"Brave, my friend," Dohko announced to nobody in particular. "Bravo."

A/N: No comment I can give would do this justice, in my mind.


End file.
